When Naomi Witt entered Notre Dame Academy for middle school, her mother thought it was time for her to get involved in some sort of sport. The then-seventh grader decided to try field hockey but quickly found that this was not for her, so she moved onto her second option – cross country.

“I immediately loved the team and fell in love with the sport as I could see improvements,” she said. “By the time I got to eighth grade, I also joined the track team, but not seriously.”

Witt noted that while she was in middle school the coaches were all volunteers and they came and went so there was no real stability. When she got to Wachusett for high school, she realized that she was getting the proper coaching, workouts and found herself building a foundation. 

“It was in high school that I learned that I could run faster than I ever could,” Witt said. “We were building a strong base where improvement was coming on a regular basis and I liked that.”

In addition to running cross country for the Mountaineers Witt also joined the track team during the winter and spring seasons. Having found herself to be a distance runner through her cross-country exposure, she decided to focus on running the 800 and mile for Wachusett. 

While running the mile during the outdoor season, the then-junior would break the school record – without telling her coach that she was planning to do so.

“It’s a rather funny story,” she said. “At the district championship meet, I had discussed with my coach about running a 5:08 race, but in my mind I was really looking for a sub 5-minute run but didn’t let him know that.”

Witt felt that she was in great shape and had the ability to accomplish the feat. When the race started, she felt good and kept a good pace. When she completed her second lap, she realized that her time was on target to get that under 5-minute time, so she pushed herself even harder. Crossing the finish line, she had run a 4:59.09 mile, etching her name in the Wachusett record books.

“My coach was shocked and when I told him that was my plan all along, he said that I should have told him,” she said. “I wanted to prove to myself that all I needed to do was mentally prepare myself and execute. Track allows you to be capable of posting those faster times if you set your mind to it and to this day, I am still improving.”

As she gets ready to begin her final cross-country season with the Mountaineers, Witt has been named a captain, and she is looking to have her team prepared and ready to take on the season. She is hoping that the girls will all dedicate themselves so that Wachusett can once again achieve a top five finish at the Division 1 Championship Meet (Wachusett finished fifth last year). She also has her eye on another top 10 finish at the All-States, where they placed ninth last fall. 

Having already put up a personal best time of 18:23 running the 5k, the senior is hoping that she can bring her time below 18 minutes before the end of the season. Much like her mile record-breaking pace, she believes that she can hit that goal.

“There are times that I occasionally start out a little too fast and I am dying by the end of the race,” Witt said. “I just need to once again maintain my pace and focus on the task at hand and I’ll be ok.”

Although Witt has been blessed with her speed and skills while running for the Mountaineers, she made it clear that she couldn’t have gotten to where she is without her teammates.

“It is very important to let them know that I would not be where I am without my team,” she said. “It’s a very supportive environment and I couldn’t have done it without them.”

With such focus and talent, this team will run as one and will attain all their objectives. W